If you have ever contemplated attending the Annual National Art Education Convention allow me to share a little glimpse of why I think you should just "GOGH"!

#NAEA16 was held in Chicago March 17-20, 2016 and welcomed over 5,000 art educators from around the country and world! The annual professional development opportunity highlights art educational issues, teaching strategies, and innovative educators sharing their work. Each conference creates wonderful take away moments that you can gain from attending your state or National Art Education Convention that will provide inspiration for the entire school year.

#NAEA16 provided many moments that I continue to reflect on throughout the coming months. What does NAEA mean to me? The annual convention is an opportunity for...​

One of the most rewarding opportunities NAEA conventions provides is the opportunity to meet and spend time with the #artsedPLN beyond our online chats, blogs, groups or twitter chats throughout the year. My online community of art educators help to inspire and push my practice to new levels. The opportunity to finally meet and hear other educators you admire speak about their classroom is priceless. The first decade of my teaching career was long before social media and the ability to connect with other educators easily online. (I know what you are thinking...How did we ever survive before the twitter chats, FB art teacher group and Pinterest?!?) In the late 90's I was able to connect through the Yahoo Arts Educator groups and VirginiaPen. But, in the last decade we do not have to be isolated on our own curriculum islands in distant classrooms has vanished to being able to be constantly connected. Teachers can now go online to see flipped videos of teaching strategies, sharing techniques and a variety of lessons shared. Educators share through so many different platforms and it is inspirational to be able to really sit down and discuss ideas for the future of art education with my peers. Our society has quickly moved to being constantly connected through social media but the art of conversation is cherished when you can sit down to dinner and talk. I am grateful for the inspiration and most importantly the friendships developed through my #artsedPLN. I consider them my friends, my #artsed family admire and love them dearly.

#ArtsEd Sessions:

The convention is three days filled with wonderful talks, presentations, super sessions, award functions, vendors and maker spaces! Here are a few of my favorite talks, moments and inspirations....

Stacy Lord Mixing Art & Science

Jean Houston 1st General Session

Maker Space

During the convention I was thrilled to have the opportunity to present ideas and lessons from my own classroom along a few inspiring members of my #artsedPLN.Resources from presentations can be found below:Middle Level Medley on Arts Integration Blog Post & Group Ideas on Cross Curricular ConnectionsChina a Journey through Art: Prezi & Session recordings by Christian Parker Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3Leading the Way: TEAM Middle : Prezi

The convention had a wonderful interactive maker space this year where NAEA educators set up a variety of spaces where we could explore new technology and innovative projects. The room was filled with a variety of educators set up at stations demonstrating 3D Printing, Animation, 3D Scanning, Sewing with conductive thread, and technology like the Makey Makey. I was intrigued by all the stations and loved seeing the room a buzz with people interacting with the variety of technologies. The hands on approach helps our students and teachers to see first hand how to put the technology to use in our own classrooms. Here is a list of resources from the Maker Space presenters: Thanks to Shaunna Smith! : NAEA Maker Resources

Art museums:

Chicago offers the opportunity to visit some wonderful art museums and public art spaces. My first visit to Chicago was for NAEA06 and I was thrilled to visit a city with such a great art collection. On Saturday afternoon I ventured out with many art educators to the Chicago Art Institute to see the Van Gogh Exhibit and a few of my favorite works of art. The opportunity to see Van Gogh's three bedroom paintings together was a crowded but thrilling experience. Beyond the Van Gogh exhibit I loved the opportunity to linger in front of American Gothic, O'Keeffe paintings and a the wonderful collection at the Art Institute. Hopefully my next visit won't have to wait until the next NAEA convention in Chicago! Chicago, until we meet again... thank you for the memories, inspiration and the view! I would love to hear YOUR favorite moment from #NAEA16?

The theme for the NAEA14 Convention was SPARK! The conference did indeed serve as a spark to fuel the inspiration that fill my classroom in the next year. Thank you to the Super #ArtsEd PLN & Artists that filled my mind with Resources and Knowledge sending me home IGNITED!

Super #ArtsEd teachers gather from around the country for the convention. Through the seminars, presentations, and discussions the these teachers inspire me to constantly learn, improve, and bring new learning opportunities into my classroom. It is a wonderful experience to be able to hear, see, and learn about the innovative lessons being shared around our country. New trends in art education are constantly in development, for example art teachers are embracing new technologies, the STEM to STEAM movement, new Assessment Strategies, and the Choice Based Classroom model. I appreciate all the educators who took time to prepare and share their classroom strategies and lessons!

PLNis my online personal learning network of #artsed teachers. It is inspiring to finally get to meet so many of them in person, some for the first time. Together online we share our knowledge, questions, concerns, celebrations, needs, and create friendships. On a daily basis I can support other art teachers by voting for their students in a contest (Janine Campbell's students in Michigan are currently needing our votes!), offer suggestions of technology that might help get a task done, or be supportive. The true reward is the comfort in having an amazing group of educators, that I call friends to reach out to with questions or ideas. They inspire me to continually strive to be a better educator.

Artistsare usually a wonderful source of excitement and enlightenment during the national convention. NAEA has presented great artists to speak in previous conventions and this year was not a disappointment. During NAEA14 we had the opportunity to listen and gain insight into how artists are inspired in their own art work. I enjoyed the opportunity to hear Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Deborah Butterfield speak, they are both inspiring artists and women!Resourcesfrom convention range from websites, handouts, vendor booths and take-away items. The NAEA app is a great resource with downloadable handouts from workshops. Even if you were not able to attend the convention you can download the app and find shared documents. The vendor booths also offer a chance to try out new products and see sample lesson ideas. I enjoy getting to take home a sample to see how I can use it in my own classroom. I had so many resources I had to make a trip to the post office to ship things home!

"Knowledgehas to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes." ~ Peter DruckerThe convention gives us the opportunity to improve our understanding of the ever changing art world, challenge our preexisting ideas or ways of teaching and encourages us to grow as an educator. We expect our students to listen, be attentive and take knowledge away from our classes, we must do the same for our profession. Challenge yourself to grow as an educator this spring. While the new green sprouts from the earth we must find those little changes we can start to make in our classroom to rejuvenate the learning environment.

To see all the great tweets from folks sharing their inspiring moments from conference I have created a tagboard of all things #NAEA14:#NAEA14 TAGBOARDYou are sure to find a few jewels of great information!

Thanks NAEA for sending me home IGNITED...

See & hear some of my reflections from the convention in my Flipagram: